New Book Alert: Shove by Sarah Ciacia; Suspenseful Emotional YA Novel About The Traumatic After Effects of The Accidental Death of a Child

New Book Alert: Shove by Sarah Ciacia; Suspenseful Emotional YA Novel About The Traumatic After Effects of The Accidental Death of a Child

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews



Spoilers: When someone dies after an illness, it's sad but at least it's expected. Plans can be made, possessions can be transferred, and there is a serene sense that at least the person is no longer sick or in pain. When a person dies unexpectedly, it throws everything off kilter and when the deceased is a young person, or worse a child, the after effects are worse.


That's the situation faced by the characters in Sarah Ciacia's novel, Shove. A young boy is suddenly killed by a teenage assailant for no reason except for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The horror of the randomness in the boy's death is emotional as many people are affected by his death and the circumstances surrounding it.


At first the only thing on the mind of of Whaly, the narrator, is whether Jude, one of the most popular boys at school likes her. So when she is invited to a party at popular girl, Cora's house,Whaly wants to get a chance to be alone with Jude to find out. She also brings her new friend, Lenore, a socially awkward new kid, to the party so she can make new friends and be part of the group.


The usual teen party hijinks of hooking up, making friends, and underage drinking comes to an abrupt screeching halt, when Kirby, Jude's tag along kid brother, is attacked outside the house where the party is held. Worse, he is attacked by Harlan, a friend of Lenore's older brother, Dustin. Harlan had been making inappropriate comments towards Whaly and lately has been getting more aggressive in his demeanor. At the party, he gets drunk, violent, and poor Kirby ends up being the innocent bystander that gets the worst end. This unexpected violent act which results in Kirby's death changes the book from a happy go lucky unassuming YA novel of teen romance into a tragedy on how people deal with the accidental death of a child.


Many of the characters react differently to Kirby's death and it says a lot about who they are as individuals. Jude is looking for someone to blame and is angry at everyone, including Whaly whom he blames for being the catalyst for Harlan's rage. He closes himself off emotionally from his friends as his family struggles with losing a son and brother.

Harlan becomes even more violent as if in denial over Kirby's death. He claims that he never meant to hurt the boy, and he's probably right. But, he continues to behave like a simmering volcano waiting to explode. Suspense builds when trying to figure out who will be the next recipient of Harlan's unpredictable rage.

Whaly's friend, Cora, proves what a faithless friend she really is. A self-involved popular girl, she doesn't mind playing up the tears in front of a media audience about how the tragedy occurred at her house. However, in private, she can't resist bad mouthing Lenore and Whaly. Lenore, meanwhile, sheds her social awkwardness and shows an underlying strength and resilience, emerging as a true friend to Lenore.


Whaly also has to deal with her emotions flying all over the place. She is grief stricken and guilty over Kirby's death and can't get him out of her mind. She feels separated from her friends when both Jude and Cora reject her in different ways.

She is also suffering from PTSD because of Harlan's aggressiveness. She is fearful and suspicious of everyone. This is particularly felt within her home when Dustin does some construction work around her house. Whaly constantly questions Dustin's motives. Is he in touch with Harlan? Is he coming onto Whaly's divorced mother and does her mother return those feelings? Whaly's behavior is that of most teenagers, constantly worried and angst ridden.


Things take a violent turn in the climax, which shifts friendships and romances. Some characters mature and change while others do not. By the time Shove ends, the characters still mourn but they also accept the changes that have come.